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Techie Bobsledder Goes for Repeat Gold

Steven Holcomb battled back from a potentially blinding eye disease to win gold in Vancouver. Now the avid tech enthusiast is in Sochi trying to win another medal.

NBC

Steven Holcomb is a computer geek and avid gamer, but in the winter he is best known for his other pursuit: Competitive bobsledding.

Four years ago, Holcomb and his four-man “Night Train” sled won the first U.S. men’s bobsled gold in 62 years.

Now Holcomb is back, competing in Sochi in both the two-man and four-man events, with the two-man event kicking off Sunday.

“Everything is going well,” Holcomb said in a Twitter interview from Sochi ahead of his first run. “We have a great team of engineers and mechanics that have been working tirelessly to make sure our sleds run fast. I have a great push crew, the best in the world, and I’m 4 years more experienced. We still have a difficult couple of races, but we are in a good place.”

When he isn’t flying down the track, Holcomb is a Microsoft-certified engineer and big-time Xbox gamer. Holcomb also overcame a potentially blinding eye disease to return to competitive racing ahead of the 2010 games, an inspiring story he turned into the book “But Now I See.”

We’ll keep tabs on Holcomb and team throughout the games.

Update (and spoiler alert): Holcomb and his two-man bobsled partner Steve Langton sit in third place after the first two runs, with the two-man event set to conclude Monday.

This article originally appeared on Recode.net.